On the site today

Blair's in Basra on a surprise visit to British troops stationed there: Tania Branigan has sent an audio report from the scene, and our politics editor, Oliver King, who travelled to Iraq with Blair last year, will be writing about the gruelling schedule faced by journalists travelling with the PM.

We'll also be covering controversial Home Office plans to merge four West Midlands police forces - West Midlands, Staffordshire, West Mercia and Warwickshire - to form the second biggest force in England and Wales, and we'll bring you the outcome of the RMT union ballot that could result in a New Year's Eve Tube strike.

I'd also recommend you take a look at our audio slideshow on Kinshasa, where Médecins sans Frontières is encouraging prostitutes and pimps to use condoms. There is audio commentary from the Guardian's Patrick Barkham and images from Jeff Barbee, who visited Congo as part of the Guardian's Christmas appeal to raise money for HIV-positive people in Africa. You can read more reports from around Africa and find out how you can donate here.